RV Door?

[Human_Writes]

Hi! I'm a newbie, just bought my first bus, and '87 IHC, all I've done so far is rip the seats out, but looking at the structural integrity/energy efficiency of the factory door, I'm just not convinced. Has anyone put an RV door on their bus, or know how much they run price wise? I'm trying to do this thing on a college student budget.

 

[Abbott-SKO]

Has anyone put an RV door on their bus, or know how much they run price wise? I'm trying to do this thing on a college student budget.

Yes I have. At used RV parts houses I have seen plenty of complete doors sell at about $180.00. I paid $50.00 for mine at the local salvage store.

More photos

 

[arfisher83]

I can't give you any useful information on a used RV door but I might recommend a storm door from Menards or Lowe's etc. I paid $94.00 for a Larsen storm door that fit almost perfectly. I added a lot of extra screws to make sure it is secure for road travel, and I added a lot of weatherstripping for a tighter seal. You can see my door in my pics of Buscephus by clicking the link below.

-Adam

 

[sportyrick]

Or you could take out that leaky ugly front door and put an RV door in the middle like I did. That makes it nice to have company up front to visit with and a nice window to watch traffic out of. It's mostly welding and sheet metal work with the price of a door the major expense. I couldn't be happier with my version and my girlfriend doesn't get motion sickness because she can watch the road. You can see my conversion on page 14 of the gallery under sportyrick.

 

[SeanF-SKO]

Our salvage RV door was 6" shorter and 3" narrower than the stock door opening, so we built a frame within the opening to hold the door.

Installed the door, covering the gap with sheet metal.

All details here

 

[wmah]

I have to agree with shortbus on this.
Maybe it is a bus driver thing. I do often open the door to see better to the right when I need to. I also tell people that it is my power window on the right side. And it sure lets a nice breeze in through that open door going down the highway.

 

[colliervilledave]

I found a used motor home door. Yanked the factory bifold door, some 2x2 steel tube , noise level droped in half. and no leaks..

 

[GoneCamping-SKO]

I spotted at least 2 RV doors on ebay the other day, don't remember exactly where but if you search ebay for it you'll come up with some.

I bought a Larson "Secure Elegance" door for my bus. I had a 32" opening and they made the door with that size, it has tempered safety glass w/membrane like a front windshield, and a 2 stage locking system (required to pass DOT specs). Plus it is full glass top to bottom, and the best part is, it's near impossible to break into the bus with this thing!!

 

[captainkf]

Well, my first cheap replacement door was a couple of laminated peices of 1" plywood with the stock glass placed into them. It worked okay, but was not great. Then I used a vintage front door that was being disposed of and am in the process of replacing the glass with tempered. This cost very little, has a locking knob (new) and a deadbolt (used). It's great looking, cuts the road noise and keeps out the temps. I had to modify it a bit to fit the opening, but nothing too crazy. And it was cheap. I get alot of compliments on it.

The plywood version:

Newer wood door:

Inside:

Keep us posted with what you end up doing.

-Richard